Community Corner
This Week in Harrisburg
My Legislation on the Move
I am pleased to report the House this week unanimously passed two bills I have sponsored that would help to ensure the health and safety of Pennsylvania’s children.
House Bill 2049 would provide civil immunity to school bus drivers who administer epinephrine auto-injectors, or epi-pens, to students who experience an allergic reaction while riding on a school bus. Learn more here.
House Bill 2204 would help prevent youngsters from falling through cracks in the Commonwealth’s human services system. It immediately makes homeless infants and toddlers eligible for identification and tracking in the state’s Early Intervention system. Both bills will next be considered by the Senate.
Watch my floor remarks in support of the legislation.
Fixing the Pension System
This week, legislation to address Pennsylvania’s public pension crisis was unveiled at a Capitol news conference. Currently, the unfunded liability of the two pension systems, which serve teachers and state employees, is estimated at $50 billion.
Under the proposal, a hybrid plan would be established for NEW employees entering the pension systems and would not change benefits for existing participants or retirees. New employees would be enrolled in a combination of a 401(k)-type and a traditional pension plan.
The estimated savings that would result by combining the benefits of both systems are between $11 billion and $15 billion over a 30-year period. Learn more here.
June Economic Brief
The Commonwealth’s General Fund revenue collections for May were $1.86 billion, which is $108 million less than expected. Year-to-date General Fund collections of $25.79 billion are below the official estimate by $533 million. Learn more here.
Impact Fees Distributed
More than $225 million in natural gas drilling impact fees collected during 2013 is being distributed to counties and municipalities across the Commonwealth to address infrastructure and environmental protection needs. Since the impact fee was enacted three years ago, more than $630 million has been distributed statewide.
Click here to learn how much your municipality received.
Prioritizing Transportation Projects
The Lehigh Valley Transportation Study will hold public meetings on Tuesday, June 10, to gather comments on the proposed Transportation Improvement Program plan.
The meetings will take place at 1 p.m. in the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission conference room, 961 Marcon Blvd., Suite 310, in Allentown, and at 6 p.m. in the PennDOT District 5 conference room, 1002 Hamilton St., in Allentown.
The plan lists high priority highway, bridge and transit projects for the Lehigh Valley from October 2014 through September 2018.